Afterwards
by Shmellow
Summary: An hour has passed since the Barhara massacre, and very few are left alive. A heavily wounded Azel and Lex reflect on the situation while Tiltyu tries to find survivors. AzelXTiltyu, Heavily implied LexXAyra. Oneshot.


**Obligatory Author's Note: I decided to write this after beating Chapter 5 of Genealogy of the Holy War and having my entire army wiped out by Alvis. For the umpteenth time. It's probably been done before, but… yeah, I really don't have much of an excuse. Well, enjoy anyway.**

The spheres of fire descended upon the army at a startling speed. With the soldiers of the emperor's army surrounding them, Sigurd's ragtag bunch of fighters and civilians were unable to escape. Almost all of them lost their lives at Barhara that day…

"Hey. Az…el? Are ya still there?"

"…hm? Lex?"

"Hey. Glad to see you're still with us."

The two lay on the ground next to each other, bloodstained and heavily wounded.

"Lex, can you move too well?" asked Azel, trying not to concentrate on the searing burns on his chest. Burns inflicted by one of the only people he thought he could trust.

"Ha… nope," Lex responded. "I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon."

"Yeah, me neither. Lex… I'm really, really sorry my brother, no, I'm sorry Alvis did this. I-I wish I could have stopped it. Maybe if I'd stayed at Velthomer…"

"Quiet," snapped Lex, albeit weakly. "We both know you aren't the one to blame for this mess." His tone softened. "It's all right, anyway. I mean, we all would've died anyway, right?"

Azel grinned a bit, an expression that hadn't shown itself since Tinny's birth. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks."

"By the way," Lex asked, "You haven't seen Ayra or Tiltyu anywhere, have ya?"

"Nope," Azel said, sadly.

Lex sighed. "We've established we probably aren't leaving, right?"

"Right."

"So," continued Lex, "What do you think it'll be like after this? Do you think we'll go up?" 

"Up?" Azel questioned.

"Up. As opposed to, uh, down. Up is the good place, down is the bad place. Do I need to spell it out?"

"Oh… Oh! Right. I think… I don't think I've been that bad here. Well, I sure _hope_ I go up, anyways," said Azel.

"I'm pretty sure we both have a pretty good shot of going up. I think it'd be pretty hard to go down, actually," said Lex. "You'd probably have to do something pretty bad."

"Like Alvis," murmered Azel, darkly.

"Nah… I don't even think Alvis is going down. People like my Dad, _they're _going down," Lex said. "I— Argh!" 

"Lex ?!" cried Azel in alarm, looking over at his friend.

"It's… I'm…" he gasped. "I'm alive. But… I don't have much time left, Azel."

"Oh," said Azel, trying to compress a sob. "Is… can I help you Lex? At all?"

"Yeah," said Lex. "Do you think you can stay alive until I leave?"

"I think I can do that…"

Tiltyu tried to walk along the battlefield, although the bodies messily strewn about as well as the injury to her leg made it easier just to half-crawl, half- drag herself along the ground.

"Hello?" She called, weakly. "Please… someone… any…one…" She broke off into a series of sobs and began to weep. Her children, her husband, her friends; she didn't know if anyone was safe. She crawled on when her hand fell upon the blonde hair and white robes of a familiar figure.

"Claude… you're dead too, huh?" she began to cry again. She sat next to his body, silently weeping, until she heard a familiar voice.

"Tiltyu? Is that… you?"

"A-Ayra?" cried Tiltyu. "Ayra!"

Tiltyu crawled over to Ayra and hugged her, still sobbing.

"Ayra, oh, you're still alive Ayra!"

"Heh… I guess. I think… I don't have too much time left," said Ayra.

"N-no!" said Tiltyu, alarmed. "We'll make it out! We'll find Azel and Lex and we'll make it out somehow! C'mon, Ayra… Please?"

"So you haven't seen them… Damn. They're probably gone already," said Ayra, and she began to close her eyes.

"Ayra... can't you stay?" asked Tiltyu. She fought the urge to start bawling again.

"Tiltyu… I can't stay. I'm really sorry," Said Ayra, softly. "I wish… I could see…. Shanan… Le…x…"

And Ayra left.

"Ayra… I'm sorry," said Tiltyu.

Tiltyu felt defeated. She was unable to save her friends, or anyone else, for that matter. Maybe she could join them…

Tiltyu gently tried to remove the sword Ayra was holding in her hands before the massacre. She pressed the metal up to her chest, took a deep breath and prepared to…

She spotted something about fifty feet away. Could it be? Tiltyu crawled towards the body, covered by a red cloak… Azel's body. Next to him lay Lex. Neither was moving.

She inched forward… expecting to see yet another dead friend. She took a deep breath and gently placed her hand on Azel's shoulder.

"Ah!" Azel opened his eyes and lurched upwards.

"Azel? What— oh, hey Tiltyu." Lex said, tiredly.

" Tiltyu, you're alive!" said Azel happily.

"You bet I am," she said. "In fact— oh, gosh! You guys, both of you, t-there's…"

"A lot of blood?" asked Lex, sarcastically. "Yeah, that happens sometimes, I guess."

"Well," said Tiltyu, determined, "I'm gonna get you two out of here."

Lex sighed. "Tiltyu, just wait for a second. Have you seen Ayra anywhere?"

Tiltyu looked down. "Yeah… I saw her. She was lookin' for you."

"S-She's gone, isn't she."

"Yeah."

"All right… Oifey had better take care of Lachke and Skasasher. I think I'm going to go see Ayra now," Lex said, and he took a deep breath.

"No! Don't… don't go yet… Lex!" Tiltyu started panicking.

"Tiltyu," said Azel. "Relax. He has to do this… just, please, let him die in peace."

"Thanks," said Lex, softly. "Tiltyu, Azel… thanks for being… here…"

And Lex left.

"Lex…" said Tiltyu, dejectedly. She turned to Azel. "Azel… I'll get you out of here. I'll get you all healed up… and… and…" Tiltyu started to cry. It wasn't only a sound of grievance; it was a sound of lost hope, and of helplessness. She knew very well that Azel would not return with her.

"I'm sorry, Tiltyu…" said Azel.

"Please," Tiltyu begged through her tears. "Just… can't you try, please? Arthur and Tinny, they need ya, Azel. I need you."

"I- I'm sorry. Please take care of Arthur and Tinny…Tilt…yu…"

And Azel left.

"Azel… Azel…" Tiltyu held him in her arms and kept repeating his name dumbly. Everyone was gone. Claude, Ayra, Lex. Azel. Souls whose dreams were never and would never be realized.

Tiltyu suddenly looked up. She saw two figures walking towards her. She recognized the first one.

She said his name with an ungodly hatred. "Alvis."

"Yes. You're… that thunder mage. My brother's friend."

Tiltyu clenched her teeth and continued talking. "Your brother. The brother you killed! I can't believe I ever had any respect for you… you… monster!"

Alvis's expression briefly faltered. He looked at Azel's limp body that Tiltyu held.

"So… he was slain…" said Alvis.

Tiltyu could feel the rage boiling up inside her. "You… Are you SURPRISED?!" she screamed. "You're the one who ordered your men to KILL HIM!" She clutched Azel's body tighter.

"I… I'll KILL YOU!" she screamed, the fury inside her body finally releasing itself. She quickly stood up and tried to stab Alvis with the sword she had taken from Ayra's body.

The man who had been walking with Alvis had silently snuck behind Tiltyu and knocked the sword out of her hand. She felt herself forced to the ground, her arms pinned behind her back.

Alvis picked up Azel's still-limp body, and began to carry it away. Tiltyu screamed after him.

"You… You monster! You murdered everyone! Even your own brother!" she cried.

Tiltyu heard Alvis's attendant speak from behind her. "Should I have her executed, sir? I'm carrying a sword right—"

"No," said Alvis, sharply. "Just let her go. Order your men into the castle." He glanced at Azel. "I'm… I'll be back shortly.

"Very well," said the attendant, releasing Tiltyu and exiting among the bodies.

Alvis addressed Tiltyu for the final time. "You think me a monster for killing him, don't you? But I…I did it for the good of the future empire. Yes that's right… for a better Grandbell…" He began to murmur inaudibly, as if trying to convince himself he had killed everyone for a good cause.

Before Tiltyu could respond, Alvis turned away and began to walk. His gait didn't seem as confident as before.

Tiltyu fell to her knees. She stared after Alvis, and when he had left her line of sight, she continued to stare at the same spot. Then suddenly, something inside her snapped. She started to tear at her hair, and let all her emotions out in a single screech.

"!"

**Obligatory Ending Note: The Ending felt pretty Carrie-esque. That may or may not be a good thing. Also, I think I may have broke the record for most ellipses (…) used in a single story. I feel…so…honored. Well, rate, review, and all that jazz. **


End file.
